How could Reform form a government when they are such an absolute shitshow?

[noblegiraffe]

James McMurdock (the Reform MP who beat up his girlfriend) has just removed the whip from himself.

Rupert Lowe got kicked out (presumably for being named by Elon Musk as a better potential leader than Farage).

Zia Yusuf, the chairman resigned saying it was a waste of time, and then immediately unresigned.

And yet the polls suggest that they may win the next General Election, with a majority of MPs. What is the path to victory there?

They are not ignored!
How can anyone even think they are?

30p's statement is oddly drafted. The usual expression under these circumstances is that the MP resigned the whip. Saying he removed the whip from himself does make it sound as though McMurdock was also a whip. However, a party of five, now four, MPs surely has no need for more than one whip, unless the remaining four get into pairs and whip one another. That could be fun. Farage & Pochin, Anderson & Tice. Or Tice & Pochin. Farage & Anderson. The possibilities really are not endless.

🤣

And another thing, charactising Reform/Brexit voters as all struggling, downtrodden, can't get ahead no matter how hard they work, just isn't true. Comfortable, home county retired people vote for Farage's parties in droves. These people have had the easiest ride through life in human history. They don't fit the narrative though and so when shit hits the fan and all the (completely predictable and predicted) consequences unfold, guess what? The finger is pointed at poor people and they get all the blame while the comfortably off, who voted in big numbers, are ignored.

I don't know how true it is to say that the comfortably off home counties type vote Reform in droves. Some do, though.

Well they probably wouldn't be able to but unfortunately we won't find that out until after they have possibly won an election. We can only hope that they have had sufficient time to prove that they are completely hopeless in local government and the other parties use that effectively. Our local Reform candidate tried to stand as a Conservative at the last GE but had to withdraw at the last minute when it came to light that he (allegedly) sent an unsolicited dick pic to a colleague. He has now been elected as a local councillor for Reform, who have no qualms about letting that sort of thing slide.

@WrigglyDonCat did you mention lord ali

Thanks for that unfortunate image as I am trying to eat my cornflakes.

I thought one could have the whip removed, or resign the whip. Another situation where the party don't know how things work?

"Reform will completely fall apart long before 2029". So it might but lets not count on it eh?
What is reform at the moment? Is it more than a large number of supporters who are totally fed up with the 'Others'?

Will Reform recruit any knowledgeable existing politicians to help. At the moment they have little experience of being in Government.
One can imagine several rejects from the Tory Party trying to become candidates.

One can imagine several rejects from the Tory Party trying to become candidates.

Unfortunately the likes of Lee Anderson and Andrea Jenkyns can hardly be described as knowledgeable.

I suspect they might scrape a majority but will have so many defections and losing whip that they will lose power within a couple of years but which time people will be ready to give the Tories another chance.

if they don’t get a majority nobody should go into coalition with them.

Reform are a rabble. Yusuf and Farage need to go and bring back Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib who actually have substance.

And this sort of thing is why they are a rabble. No coherence.

Their chaotic nature/the fact they are a rabble is a strength though.
If you are a "net contributer" tax wise and sick of seeing benefit scroungers getting something for nothing (paid for by you!) then you will vote reform because other parties have let you down.

Maybe you are a hardworking poorly paid parent who relies on child benefits to get by but receives nothing for your third child. Or you are watching your disabled sister worrying about the proposed changes to PiP. The conservatives and Labour both made your life harder. Meanwhile asylum seekers come over in boats and get everything for free. Reform are the only ones dealing with this.

Or you care about womens rights/sexual violence and are horrified about the grooming gangs fiasco or the trans women in women's prisons. Reform are the only ones to talk about THAT. Brave Farage.

Or you are a young man who is sick of the focus on men's crimes against women. Maybe you are South Asian/a Muslim and feel especially stigmatized. Well, Reform are anti woke and Farage said while he doesn't agree with Tate he does express some of young men's frustrations. And it's funny watching Me Too types getting triggered.

Whatever group you belong to, Farage knows how to appeal to your worst nature. And the more suspicious people feel about other groups the better they do. The fact they contradict themselves is an advantage not a disadvantage. And our grievances don't have to be actually true just emotionally true.

I think the fact that Reform doesn’t support / want to save the NHS is why they won’t win the vote. Even though there is no inspiring competition and it would be a relief to have a PM with a jovial energy and who is pro Britain.

Farage's brexit caused huge damage to the UK, is that being pro Britain?

He is also quite keen on foreign interference/donations, again is that being pro Britain?

Kent haven't had any of the scheduled committee meetings. I don't know if they publicised before the agendas for such meetings, and the minutes, but they need to be held to their duties, for which I, like the rest of the county, are paying.

I'm not so sure we can be complacent on that score. Their plans will destroy the NHS and make things even more difficult for those most in need of care. However, if their voters are only listening to the Reform
spin on the policy rather than actually reading it for themselves, looking at Farage et al's positions, attitudes, affiliations, and previous on and off record statements re the kind of system that will replace the current system and what that actually means for them, then I don't think it will be enough to keep the wolf from the door.

It is entirely possible that people could vote Reform in, given the nature of our electoral system. We should acknowledge that many people hardly ever watch or listen to traditional news broadcasts, some may vote thinking it is a free protest, and some will not vote for a party led by a person of colour (if that is still the case with the Tories for example).

My opinion is that what may tell is that if people do not feel worse off by 2029, it could be enough to keep much of the Labour vote, and that there will be tactical voting to keep Reform out in some places (the Green vote and in some cases Lib Dem vote could suffer, or in Lib Dem held seats Green and Labour).

The PR system for the Senedd and Scottish Parliament is such Reform will be nowhere near the government in Wales and Scotland, and not be seen as winning.

If the Tories keep 100 seats, Lib Dems 75, smaller parties 50, that leaves 425 seats, and no way will Labour be down to 102 which is what would be needed to get a Reform government a majority.

How is he pro Britain? All of the main members and big funders are people who were/are involved in selling Britain of piece by piece. While talking about "sovereignty" and preventing an invasion of immigrants to distract people.

This. He is pro-Nigel Farage. Nothing more, nothing less. He promotes Little Britain, isolationist nationalism with populist soundbite headlines because it wins him votes.

Sorry to ruin your cornflakes. I agree with you. When I read 30p's statement, I thought: Reform haven't got their heads around how Parliamentary processes work.

If we have a Reform government and lose the NHS, ok…what will we gain? Can they remove the undesirables? Are we going to see our version of Alligator Alcatraz?

Whats an undesirable?
If you mean immigrants who commit serious crimes being deported then I can see people supporting that. Imagine:
A 19 year old who violently beats his girlfriend in front of witnesses but on conviction is only given a few weeks detention in a young offenders institution (despite being over 18). On being released he lies about his previous convictions. Should an immigrant like that be deported? What if it was a British citizen and reform MP? In That case Reform didn't see fit to kick him out of their own party. (He has now resigned because it seems he also embezelled 70,000 pounds from the government). But the DV was youthful indiscretion.
We already have procedures in place to remove foreign criminals. Whereas reform can't even be bothered to remove criminals from their own party. So they can't legislate on removing residency from others without looking like 2 faced hypocrites.
Also is Andrew Tate an undesirable? He was born overseas but he can stay because he is "an important role model for young men"

You would be left with a situation where dangerous criminals aren't followed up or removed because that's a lot of work for small (in terms of numbers) return. While law abiding people, breastfeeding mothers are rounded up because they are low hanging fruit and easy to catch precisely because they follow the law. So deporting the good. Keeping the bad. Exactly like in America right now.

And men like Andrew Tate are lauded. Now he hasn't been convicted so innocent until proven guilty should apply. But then it should also apply to all the men deported to al Salvador etc. when clearly it doesn't. But hey, at least in America Alligator Alcatraz will be making big piles of cash for rich business people. I am sure Farage would also love to make big piles of cash through a similar scheme here. Funded by you and me if course.